Officials dubious as to whether goal is realistic

Nov. 2, 2012

Written by

Terry Gauthier Muessig

@terrymuessAPP

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS — The seven Seastreak commuter boats escaped unscathed the wrath of Sandy in the New York Harbor. However, the ferry line’s dock at the Atlantic Highlands Municipal Harbor was destroyed.

“We knew we had to get out of here, the municipal harbor,” said James Barker, president and one of the owners of the company. The boats were taken out of the two boroughs’ piers on Sunday morning, he said.

Ferry service from the borough and from its Highlands location off Shore Drive, where the commuters access the boat from a floating barge, could start as early as Monday, Barker said.

The borough’s concerns are:

• Frank’s Pier in Atlantic Highlands, which commuters have to walk to access the boats, is destroyed.

• Each borough has forbidden public access to the piers.

• Electric power has not been restored as of Thursday.

• Parking facilities have to be cleaned, and each borough has to give the company permission to restart its service.

The company’s plans to get up and running is to have a barge placed at the Atlantic Highlands location. Barker said the company has two barges in Massachusetts. The cost of transporting a barge to the Shore area is $50,000, Barker said. The diesel fuel needed to run the boats is being transported from Detroit due to its unavailability in this area. Baker said each round trip to the city takes about 400 gallons or about 6,000 to 7,000 gallons of fuel a day.

However, Atlantic Highlands Mayor Frederick J. Rast III is not as optimistic as Barker.

“We have about $100 million worth of damage down there at the municipal harbor,” Rast said.

“I don’t see how it will be possible for commuter service to begin again that soon.”